A CRUEL NIGHT WITH THE ALPHA

“Willow… Willow…” Killian called the name with so much affection, as he thrusted so deep, he couldn’t care less about the woman under him. The woman that he drew pleasure from.

Willow.

That was not her name.

Althea cried silently, as she accepted this cruel treatment from the man that was supposed to be her mate. Not only was this torture, but he intentionally called someone else’s name and the name belonged to her dead older sister.

The person that Alpha Killian was actually in love with.

This torturous act continued until the sky turned slightly bright and Althea was no longer able to feel herself. She was a wreck, her heart had shattered into a thousand, if not a million pieces.

All this long horrendous night, Althea didn’t say anything. She kept her mouth shut and as much as possible she didn’t even make a peep. No matter how painful it was. Because Alpha Killian had warned her that he would slit her throat if she made a sound.

Alpha Killian hated her with passion and Althea thought she deserved it, since she was the cause of her sister’s death. The woman that the alpha loved.

Althea flinched when Killian pulled out of her, she felt beaten and dirty. This mating should be a sacred thing between two shifters, but for Althea, this was nothing but torture.

Killian didn’t treat her right, he was very harsh and every thrust was filled with anger.

“Get out of my bed!” Killian hollered once he was done with Althea, but she couldn’t move her body, she was in so much pain, she couldn’t even grasp onto her consciousness for long.

The last thing she remembered was Alpha Killian yelling at her to get out, but instead she fell into a deep darkness. She lost her consciousness after the harsh mating between them.

“Get out!” Killian snapped again, but then he realized that Althea had fainted, she looked pale and her body was covered in bite marks, which just started to heal.

She kept her word that she wouldn’t make a sound and all she did was bite down on her lip and tongue to prevent herself from making any noise.

Killian clenched his jaw, he got off the bed and only then he could see what he had done to his destined mate. The white sheet had turned red, the undeniable evidence of how rough he was with Althea during their mating.

There was this guilty feeling that he immediately snuffed completely, because he couldn’t pity this woman. This was the same woman who had killed his Willow.

Walking out of the room, the alpha asked Sean, the old woman, who had been with the alpha family for decades, to take care of Althea.

He didn’t give any specific instruction, he only wanted that woman out of his bedroom. He didn’t want to see her anymore, unless he needed to vent again.

Killian didn’t return for a week, but it helped Althea to recover from that brutal night. She also wished that she didn’t need to see him again.

It took Althea two days straight to finally regain her strength, all that time, Sean was the only person that she could talk to, because her parents hated her so much, just like Alpha Killian, since they assumed she killed Willow.

“Here, drink this. You will feel better,” Sean said. She handed her a warm cup of tea and sat next to her. “You don’t deserve this, Althea.”

“I know.” Althea held the warm cup and tears streamed down her face. “They thought I killed my sister, but I didn’t. No matter how I tried to tell them that I didn't know anything about it, they never believed me.”

“I believe you, Althea. You are not someone like that.” Sean hugged Althea and she cried in her arms. “But, unfortunately, my opinion won’t help you.”

Althea shook her head. “Thank you, Sean.”

Only a week later did Killian return, but he reeked of alcohol and he immediately looked for Althea. He entered her room and stared at her with his sharp eyes, which made Althea feel this coldness run down her spine.

“I don’t want you to make any noise. Understood?” This was a warning, it would be a passcode for Killian to get what he wanted and vent out his hatred.

Later that night, they did the deed on Althea’s bed. He finished inside her and then left. Thankfully, he was not too cruel to her tonight.

The same thing happened over and over again for more than three months to the point Althea couldn’t take it anymore.

“Can you please mark me? My wolf is in so much pain…” Althea looked so weak. It was really miserable for her wolf not to be marked by their destined mate, even after months had passed. Althea felt in pain because her wolf wanted their mate.

“I will never mark you.”

She should have expected this answer, but something snapped inside of her and she started to call him out.

“Why don’t you just kill me to make it even? All of you think that I killed my sister, but no matter how much I deny the accusation, nobody believes me!”

Althea covered herself with a blanket, she felt so dirty, as she watched Killian get dressed. Currently, they were in the guest room, because he wanted to do it here.

“Death is a mercy, Althea. I am still alive and I am still suffering from the way you took the woman that I loved away, you will suffer with me.”

“I didn’t kill her!” Althea cried. She snapped at him, but Killian growled dangerously.

“You're always jealous of her. Do you really think I believe you? Even your parents don’t believe you!”

Althea bit her lips. She knew it was not right and it would hurt the two of them if she did it, but she couldn’t take it any longer.

This was it, she was done.

“I, Althea Rose Brown, reject you…”

THE RESULT CAME AS EXPECTED

A severed mate bond would be a very painful experience that any shifter could ever go through, one could die because of this.

However, Killian didn’t leave Althea with another choice. He was going to kill her anyway for a crime that she didn’t commit. For the cruel accusation that had fallen on her ridiculously.

Althea had enough. She would rather feel the pain of rejection than to be tortured like this for the rest of her life.

“I, Althea Rose Brown, reject you…”

However, before Althea could finish with her sentence, Killian kissed her harshly, he bit down on her lip roughly because she tried to push him away, yet he didn’t budge.

Once again, he took advantage of her and was not satisfied until he got his point across.

“If there is someone, who is going to reject the other person, it will be me, not you. Understood?” Killian didn’t raise his voice, but it was enough to make Althea curl her body in fear, as she nodded.

Her courage to reject him a few hours ago had long disappeared. Killian fucked both her body and mind. He left nothing for her, but misery, the feeling that he thought a murderer like her fit the best.

After that, Killian left the room. He didn’t return for a whole month, which allowed Althea to breathe a little freely.

Ever since the pack knew that she was Alpha Killian’s mate and he dragged her to his house, no one ever came here to check on her, not even her parents, while she couldn’t take a step out of this house. She had been isolated here for more than six months since that fateful night when both she and Killian realized they were mates.

Althea’s wolf grew restless today and this dampened her mood.

“You look so pale,” Sean said, as she checked her forehead. “You got a fever. I will get medicine for you, okay?”

“Thank you, Sean.”

She was the only person who genuinely cared about her and Althea was very grateful for that. She was slightly dizzy and felt under the weather. She didn’t know why she felt this way, since it was uncommon for a shifter worker to get sick.

But then, something crossed her mind and she immediately went to the bathroom. She checked her tampons and her face fell.

She knew something like this could happen, but even so, she still didn’t know what to do or how to face her predicament and half an hour later when Sean returned with medicine, she found Althea crying on the bathroom’s floor.

“What happened my dear?” Sean was concerned when she found Althea trembling. She was a crying mess.

“Sean… I missed my period.” Althea looked at the old woman horrified. “What should I do? What should I do now?”

Althea was so scared with the possibility, while Sean gasped, she did not look very surprised, because she had expected this.

“Don’t worry. Calm down, okay. I will buy a test pack to see if it’s what we think.” Sean then stood up. “Come on, I will take you to your bedroom first.”

Even Althea could hear the uncertainty in Sean’s voice, because both of them knew what would be the result of it, yet Althea nodded. She didn’t know what to think, she didn’t want to think at all.

Sean then returned half an hour later with a small packet in her hand, and handed it to Althea.

“I don’t know how to use it…” She was a mess right now, she kept reading the instructions, but she still couldn’t understand the meaning behind the explanation.

Sean then patiently helped her with this and when the result came, it was not a surprise for either of them to see the two red lines on it. Positive. Althea was pregnant. She was pregnant with Killian’s baby.

Althea gulped down, she lifted her head and looked at her reflection in the mirror, the girl that stared back at her was someone that she couldn’t recognize. This woman looked very hollow and her usually long, shiny hair looked very dull and frizzled.

She looked very undesirable and now she was pregnant.

“Sean, he is going to kill the baby. He is going to make me abort the baby.” Althea shook her head. “I don’t want that.”

She could imagine how angry Killian would be when he learned the woman that he hated the most was pregnant with his flesh and blood. He was going to end her baby without any mercy, just like how he treated her.

“No, the Alpha will not do that…” Sean was crying too. She was there since Killian was little, but even so, she had never seen this side of him. She was in denial.

“You don’t understand, he is going to kill the baby!” Althea was hyperventilating. She was having a panic attack and Sean helped her to lie down on the bed.

“We will think about this matter later, okay? For now, take some rest.” Sean stayed there until Althea fell asleep and only then did she leave the room, giving her the rest that she needed.

But, later at midnight, Althea was woken up by a commotion from the living room. She didn’t need to guess who it was, because his voice rang throughout the house. He called her name repeatedly.

Althea didn’t want to go, but the consequences would be more dire if she didn’t run to him immediately.

Before she left the room, Althea checked herself in the mirror and stared at her belly. She had this mixed emotion on her face.

“Althea!”

“Althea!”

“Althea!”

Althea immediately approached him, but Sean was already there, trying to make Killian stop shouting and calling Althea.

“She needs to rest, Alpha. She is sick,” Sean said in a pleading tone.

However, there was another figure beside Killian that drew Althea’s attention. She was a beautiful woman with brown hair and brown eyes, wrapping her arms around the alpha’s body intimately.

“Listen to this carefully, Althea…” Killian said sternly.

REJECTION AND BANISHMENT FROM THE PACK

Althea didn’t know who that woman was, but her mind was spinning because she could feel her wolf didn’t like the sight of it. Her wolf wanted their mate and she wanted to claw this woman’s face for touching who was theirs, but then Althea’s body was too weak to inflict any violence.

But then, it didn’t matter anymore who that pretty woman was, because the next thing that Killian said was the rejection that Althea had been craving for months.

“I, Killian Brian Darwin, reject you, Althea Rose Brown, as my mate. May the bond be severed forever.”

Althea had been wanting this moment, but this came very suddenly and with her discovery about her pregnancy this evening, she was not prepared for this.

She knelt down immediately, feeling the pain because of the severed bond, while Sean immediately ran to her and hugged her tightly, preventing her from breaking down even more.

“You are so cruel, Alpha,” the woman chuckled, as she nibbled on Killian’s earlobe. “Don’t you feel anything?”

That woman finally noticed this weirdness, because Alpha Killian didn’t even flinch. He watched as Althea doubled over in pain, but his expression was still the same, as if he didn’t have his own heart being torn apart.

Of course, Killian felt the pain too, but he would never show it. He thought when he learned about Willow’s death, his heart wouldn’t ache anymore, but truth be told, nobody knew how much effort Killian had to exert to keep himself from crumbling down.

“I want you to leave this pack without taking anything with you. I want you to be gone by the morning.”

“Alpha!” Sean looked at him with tears in her eyes. “How can you do this to your own destined mate?” She felt the pain for both of them.

“She is a murderer, how do you think the Alpha will accept a person, who had killed his lover?” The woman chimed in.

However, Sean ignored that woman’s complaint, she looked at the alpha helplessly. “Alpha, please think about this again, you will regret this, because…”

Althea immediately grabbed Sean’s hand, she squeezed it so hard to stop the old woman from telling the alpha about her pregnancy, because she didn’t want Killian to know. The pain that she had to endure made it harder for Althea to speak.

But, thankfully, that woman with Killian cut Sean off. “Old hag! Stop talking over the Alpha!” She snapped at Sean.

“If you dare to raise your voice on her, I am going to smash your head to the wall!” Killian growled dangerously at the woman, which made her recoil in fear. The alpha wouldn’t allow anyone to disrespect Sean. “Go to the bedroom!”

“Y- yes alpha…” She immediately rushed away from the alpha’s wrath.

“I don’t want to see your face anymore in the morning, make sure to get out of the pack. You are banished.”

After saying that, Killian walked away, while Sean cried. She was angry with Killian, but at the same time, she felt so bad for him, because she knew he would regret what he had done to Althea today.

Tonight was a very awful night and none of them could get any sleep. Sean stayed awake with Althea to reassure her that everything would be alright, while in fact, nothing would be alright at all.

“Why don’t you come to bed with me, Alpha?” The woman said coquettishly, as she invited Killian to join her on the bed, but the alpha kept staring into the darkness out there through the window. No one could tell what was in his mind.

“Don’t you dare to touch me, Anika,” Killian said with a warning when the woman named Anika approached him and tried to touch him.

Reading the situation, Anika could only purse her lips and go to bed, trying to sleep, even though she was very mad with the way the alpha treated her.

Meanwhile, Killian stood there until the first rays of the sun touched his face and the darkness disappeared, but it was a bleak day, you could see how pale the sunlight was, which meant, there was a high possibility that rain would pour down this pack today.

============================

“You don’t have to leave, Althea. I will talk with the alpha, I am sure he will…” Sean tried to persuade Althea to stay, but she shook her head, adamant to leave.

“No, Sean. I am going to leave. This is too much. Actually, this is the best. He has done both of us a favor. This is way better.”

Althea knew this pain wouldn’t last, there would come a point where she would be able to overcome this, but if she stayed, she knew that she would die slowly, and it would be a painful death.

She knew this was for the best, but why was her heart still bleeding?

“What about the baby?”

“Please, Sean. Don’t tell anyone about the pregnancy. I am going to leave everything behind and start a new life; just me and the baby. Please, don’t let anyone know about this. Killian will take the baby away from me. I can’t…”

Sean pressed her lips, she felt very sad.

“Sean, promise me. Don’t say anything about this. Ever.”

It was so hard for Sean to promise her this, but in the end, she nodded. “I promise. I promise. But, you need to be careful. You need to take care of yourself.” Sean then gave her a ring of her own. “Take this.”

“Killian said that I am not allowed to bring anything.”

“This belongs to me, not the Alpha. You’ll need money if you want to survive out there.”

Althea cried again, as she thanked her for everything and when the first rays of the sun appeared on the horizon, Althea left the pack.

But, she didn’t know that a certain alpha was watching her lonely back, as she walked further away from him with the baby in her womb.

THE LONGING IN HIS HEART

Just like Killian predicted, heavy rain poured down the pack around afternoon.

“If you don’t have any intention to touch me, I am going to leave!” Anika was very angry, because the alpha had been standing in the same spot for more than twelve hours now!

Killian didn’t budge from his position since last night to the moment he watched Althea walk away from the house and even now, when the rain was pouring down and the dark sky would make you think that a monster could appear somewhere, he was still frozen in place.

“I am leaving!” Anika gave one last warning, but Killian didn’t care. The pain that he had to endure was almost unbearable, but if Althea could walk away with the pain, he could move on with it too.

The rain kept pouring down the Sky Red pack and the alpha’s mind was almost the same like the storm out there.

“Alpha Killian.” Sean entered the room, she met Anika on her way out. She was glad that the woman had finally left, so she could have a talk with Killian. “I brought your lunch, Alpha.”

Killian didn’t give any response to that, he kept staring into the distance.

“Alpha, if I can say something…”

“Not now, Sean,” Killian said, his voice dark and raspy. He didn’t drift his attention away from the front yard when he spoke. “I want to be alone.”

“Alpha…”

“Leave, Sean.”

Sean knew him very well, since she raised him, therefore, she knew it was not the right time to open the topic about Althea.

“Yes, Alpha.” Sean nodded, but before that, she spoke softly. “Killian, you are going to regret it immensely if you keep doing this.” She then walked out of the room.

After Sean left, Killian spent another three hours standing like that, staring out there until the rain stopped. He didn’t touch his food. He felt this hollow in his chest.

Shouldn’t he celebrate the fact that he had gotten rid of her? But, why didn't he feel any relief at all? The weight on his shoulders was not lifted, in fact, he felt it squeezing his heart painfully.

Althea.

He needed to kick her out before his craziness got the better of him. She could die in his hands one day if he kept doing this to her.

Killian walked away from his bedroom and without him realizing it, he stopped in front of Althea’s bedroom. Only now he realized Althea chose the furthest room from his own and this area was thick with her scent.

Surprisingly, Killian didn’t find this scent disgusting, instead he noticed this longing feeling in his heart. It almost felt like she was still here. She would sit on the edge of her bed while reading a book, but her eyes would widen in fear when she saw him enter the room, because both of them knew what would happen next…

Killian entered the room and her scent became even thicker. She kept her words. She didn’t bring anything with her. Not even a picture of her family. There was no dress that was missing, aside from the one that she was wearing when she left the house.

He was not happy with this. How could she survive out there? Stupid girl!

Even though he said he didn’t allow her to bring anything, it didn’t mean she needed to follow that. He wouldn’t chase her if she brought something with her.

However, when Killian went to the table, his eyes widened and madness filled his eyes.

“Sean!” Killian roared angrily, which made the old woman approach him in panic. “What do you mean by this?!”

Killian pointed his finger at the test pack on the table, his face turned very dark, as he tried his best to reign in his rage.

He wanted to lash out.

“She is pregnant!” That was not even a question, but a statement. “She is pregnant! And no one told me about this?!”

Killian was so enraged, he stormed out of the room to gather all the warriors and look for that damn woman!

Althea didn’t bring anything valuable, but she carried his flesh and blood instead!

“That bitch!” Killian cursed under his breath. He was going to get his hands on that woman.

How dare she leave without saying anything about the child in her womb!? How dare she leave at all?!

“Find her! I don’t care how, I want you to bring her back alive!”

There were three hundred warriors that Killian could gather at such short notice and all of them listened to their alpha’s order and immediately shifted into their beasts to look for Althea.

On the other hand, Althea managed to reach the harbor, where she bought a ticket to cross the sea to reach the main island with the money she got after pawning Sean’s ring off.

Althea felt very bad, but she didn’t have any other choice but to pawn the ring. She needed money to support herself and the baby.

It was not much, but it was enough for her to survive for another two months. She really needed to make her own money if she wanted to give her child at least a normal life.

With determination in her heart and ignoring the pain that was still rearing its ugly head in the depths of her bones, Althea stepped onto the ship, ready to start a new chapter in her life.

==================================

“How is he?” Armond, the beta of the pack approached Sean. He couldn’t get in touch with Killian and he knew that he relapsed again.

“Not good.” Sean shook her head and the beta could only groan.

“It has been five months…” He said in frustration.

It had been five months since Killian banished Althea from the pack, but later on he used all resources to find her to no avail.

“Armond! Sean! You will not believe what I am going to say!” Brooke shouted from the door, rushing toward them. “Willow is alive! She returned!”